chicken predator ID

[Andy Carson]

I caught my predator last night in a live trap. It was a relatively large male raccoon, he might have been pushing 20 lbs. I caught him with sardines and white bread. Kinda sad that he learned how to sneak around my dog. We’ll have to work on that.

[Anonymous]

This is what a goshawk did to a pigeon in my garden a while back. A fox or dog would carry the whole bird off, eat some then bury the rest. Mustelids drag their prey off (even a tiny stoat will drag a dead rabbit ten times its size 100 yards or more) then take it underground. Maybe if you breed some crossbred chickens the eggs will still be coloured but the hens will have a bit more “road sense”.

[jen judkins]

Well, I lost a whole brooder full of juvenile birds this week when I stupidly forgot to lock them up one night. Then we had a loss every night thereafter in the main coop. So I set up my kid cam (which is now the ‘coop cam’)….and this was what I saw at 8pm tonight!

[Andy Carson]

Eek, that stinks, Jenn… 🙂 In related news, my dog and I have caught two possums hanging around the coop in the last couple weeks. My dog has decided he is a bay dog (although he barks with a particular pitch and intensity rather than bays like a true hound). Either way, he keeps the critter from getting away and calls “daddy” to see if it is truly a problem. I tease him some about being afraid to really get after a possum, as he weighs in excess of 110 lbs, but the system seems to work fine as is anyway. Kinda nice in some respects, because sometimes he corners a barn cat, and I can call him off and let it go. Also nice because I don’t have to worry as much about him getting injured of catching some sort of disease… I have never trapped a skunk before. Stinky proposition… How are you going to deal with your invader, Jen?

[jen judkins]

Well, since you ask…he is currently in a have-a-hart trap. I am just in from checking it. So it was super easy to trap him…with alittle dog food as bait. I think the hard part will be moving him in the AM. Definitely will wear disposable clothes! I’ll let you know how it goes.

[mink]

jen they say if you cover the trap with a canvas or tarp they wont spray…..your a brave lady give it a try:cool:

[jen judkins]

Well, I successfully relocated the little guy this am. He/she did not spray me. I think I will keep a trap set up for a few more nights in case there are more of them waiting to move in…

[Robert MoonShadow]

They like marshmallow…hate moth balls…when I live-trap the neighbors’, I already have a 20-foot rope tied to the cage & slowly pull it to where I can kill it or turn it loose. They’re very near-sighted, so if you move slowly enough, and stay back 10′ or so, they can hardly notice you…{I used to have a couple as pets as a kid}.

[mink]

my neighbor is a nuisance trapper and he removes alot of skunks . he claims covering they with a small canvas or tarp does work . i was wondering how jen went about her removal problem?

[jen judkins]

I left a tarp over the trap except for the door and pointed it away from my retrieval approach. Simply flipped the tarp over the closed entrance and slowly moved it, lifted into the back of the truck and drove off, repeating the steps on the other end. Robert is right, they are very near-sighted. I could swing out and take a look at him in the cage if I kept a 10 or 15 foot distance and he didn’t even notice me. I was a little nervous about being very close to the little guy especially since the trap is heavy and the tarp made some noise I thought might startle him. But the visual barrier appears to work well. Didn’t catch anything last night…

[mitchmaine]

jen, i’ve been living under the assumption (correct or not) that a skunk has to arch his back and lay his tail uo over his back to open his musk glands and get a good shot at you. and in a (havaheart?) trap, he is challenged to operate. i just walked up to the trap with the tarp in front of me and followed your procedure. i was told you could pick them up by the tail and they couldn’t spray you, but………..never had the nerve to try that one out. mitch

[Carl Russell]

As far as the skunk trapping, I have done this several times….. the blanket works great, as some times you are not certain what you are trying to catch. There are Skunk traps….. tubular enclosed so that they can’t arch their back, nor can they see you. I usually use a large hav-a-hart to allow for large skunks, or coons etc…. so in that case skunks have plenty of room to move and to spray. Approaching behind the blanket and draping the trap works well, but I have had them go off, perhaps I dropped the blanket on too fast, but generally they can’t really tell what the blanket is, and are not incline to spray. Once covered you can bang on the cage and they just hunker down believing they are safe.

Mitch, I was always told of the old timers putting a lantern in the field so the skunks would be blinded, or at least not be able to see well in the dark, then they would sneak up from behind and pick them up by the tail….. without their feet on the ground apparently they can squeeze out the spray…… then they’d club them over the head….. as of yet I haven’t needed to revert to this for success.

Carl

[near horse]

I’ll add that while skunk scent you smell driving past a HBC skunk on the road doesn’t seem THAT repulsive, when in the up close and personal, it’s a whole ‘nother story. Can even trigger involuntary gag reflexes. Just trust me on this one.

[Kevin Cunningham]

I was sprayed only once while dispatching a skunk in small hours. I went out to a commotion in the duck house and apparently one had been locked up with the ducks. How long they had been together in there I was not sure, but when I opened the door everybody pilled out and in the frenzy the skunk came out, there happened to be a shovel handy and I got him with the shovel in a pure reflex move. He sprayed and I thought I managed to not get hit but my eyes started to water. When I got back inside I had one drop between the eyes. You could see the little yellow drop of fluid and it burned. Luckily we had just made some cheese and I dunked my head in bucket of whey and that cleared it right off. Soap or anything alkaline just makes it worse, acid takes it off right away. Amazingly not a single duck was hurt or dead, I think the drake had been fending him off for hours. Or maybe they were having a talk.

[jen judkins]

Been laughing hysterically for some reason at all your responses….not sure what is so funny. All I know is I would NEVER have the nerve to sneak up on a skunk and grab it by the tail! I, like Kevin and Geoff, have had that experience….and I have a great deal of respect for that defensive maneuver!

[Author]

Posts